Overview

The Founder Institute is the world’s premier pre-seed startup accelerator, with chapters across 180+ cities and Graduates that have built companies exceeding $20B in estimated value.

We provide high-potential entrepreneurs and teams with the critical support network and structured process needed to build an enduring company. Since 2009, we have helped over 3,500 Graduates raise over $800M funding, get into seed-accelerators, generate traction, recruit a team, build a product, transition from employee to entrepreneur, and more.

Apply to the Founder Institute Pittsburgh Winter 2019 Program

Who we Help

We believe Great Companies Start with Great People, and the greatest variable in the success or failure of any company is its leadership.

As a result, we focus on Founders versus ideas in our admissions process, and identify founders of the highest potential through a collection of aptitude and personality tests that have been in development with leading social scientists since 2008. To date, over 35,000 people have applied to our program, and our entrepreneur research has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, and Forbes.

The Founder Institute appears to have developed an assessment that any population, any city, university, or country could use to determine who among them has the best shot at succeeding as an entrepreneur” – Aaron Patzer, Founder of Mint.com

Is the Founder Institute Right for my Business?

Our program is designed for founders and teams all throughout the pre-seed stage, including aspiring founders with a full-time job, solo founders, teams, and founders of established companies that are pre-funding.

The Founder Institute is far more advanced than many online, educational, “bootcamp”, or free programs run by governments and universities, but more early-stage than seed-accelerators that provide funding and/or space for startup teams.

How we Help

We Establish a Critical Support Network

Building a startup can be a lonely journey, but great companies are not built in solitude.

To help our founders get the support and feedback they need, the Founder Institute creates an Equity Collective where all participants in a program cohort (including Graduates) receive financial upside in the companies formed. This Equity Collective aligns the incentives of all program participants and Mentors, and establishes a critical support network for our entrepreneurs to leverage for support and feedback while building their businesses.

How Does the Equity Collective Work?

Each Founder Institute Graduate contributes 4% of their company equity in Warrants to a fifteen-year Bonus Pool, and when a liquidity event occurs the Pool’s financial returns are then distributed equally across the cohort:

The Founder Institute’s unique Equity Collective creates a level of teamwork not seen in other startup programs, and helps entrepreneurs build a business alongside top startup mentors and a support network that is invested in their success.

After graduation, I now have relationships with top entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angels, and bankers and lawyers from the top firms in Montreal, and further, even Silicon Valley." - Graham Mann, Co-Founder of Lean Systems, Montreal FI Graduate

Who are the Mentors?

The Founder Institute has over 11,000 mentors across six continents, including some of the world’s most renowned entrepreneurs and investors.

Participants in the Founder Institute build their business alongside 20-40 startup Mentors that have built, led, or invested in high-growth technology businesses, and the average Mentor:Founder ratio in each program is over 2:1. Our Mentors attend the weekly sessions, share their experiences, and provide critical feedback, evaluation, and guidance throughout the business-building process.

Unlike most programs, Founder Institute Mentors are compensated through the Equity Collective, so they are typically much more supportive than Mentors in other programs. In fact, our Mentors either become formal advisors or investors in Graduates in every cohort.

The Mentors are aahhh-MAZ-ing. Seasoned CEOs and Investors that have been there, done that, and exited (in many cases, multiple times over). They’re available, helpful, generous, and willing to work with you." - Al Bsharah, Co-Founder of Email Copilot (acquired 2016)

We Provide a Proven, Structured Process

Time is an entrepreneur’s scarcest resource, and navigating uncertainty and deciding where to allocate time is one of the founder’s biggest challenges.

To help our founders build their businesses efficiently, we’ve developed a structured, 3.5 month program. It was created using Silicon Valley best practices and input from hundreds of successful technology entrepreneurs from across the globe, and has been improved every year since 2009 based on the real-world performance of our Graduate companies worldwide.

Each week in the program, participating Founders attend an in-person 3+ hour session to pitch the Mentors and receive training, evaluation, and feedback. After each session, our Founders then build their businesses for the rest of the week through a series of practical and challenging assignments, office hours, and group meetings.

What are the Assignments Like?

We don’t provide theoretical “homework”, because entrepreneurship can only be learned by doing. Our assignments include challenging, real-world tasks critical to building a business, like interviewing customers, filling a mailing list, generating revenue, and forming an advisory board. Each week's assignments are based on the topic of that week’s session, and are designed to take approximately 20-30 hours.

To help Founders efficiently complete the assignments throughout each week, we also provide many helpful guides, templates, and videos, in addition to Office Hours and Group Meetings. Founders in the program also get customized assignments to push their particular business forward based on their recent progress, challenges, or feedback from Mentors.

We Push You to Do the Impossible

The Founder Institute is hard, because building an enduring business is much, much harder.

In fact, less than 30% of accepted Founders generally make it through the program to Graduation, and this is by design. To graduate, a Founder or Team must complete all of the assignments and meet a minimum rating threshold from their program Mentors, Directors, and Peers. This ensures that everyone who graduates the Founder Institute has made extraordinary progress in the program, and is building a business that has been validated by experienced startup entrepreneurs and investors.

“The Founder Institute is the most raw, 'street' program out there for startups.” - Jason Calacanis, Host of This Week in Startups, Author of Angel, FI Mentor

What Happens if I Can’t Complete the Program?

Anyone who decides to leave the program before the third session is entitled to a full refund, and anyone who leaves the program thereafter is invited to join the next program for free, when they are ready and more prepared to build a business.

However, it should be noted that dropping out from the program is by no means a failure. If the Founder Institute can save someone years of time (and possibly their life savings) on pursuing a bad startup idea, then we consider this a successful outcome (and many of our dropouts do, too).

What Will I Have Accomplished by Graduation?

Since Founders and Teams come into the Founder Institute at different points in the pre-seed stage, the bar for Graduating varies per individual. At the very least, each Graduate completes the program with the following:

Well-Formed Corporation

Local Network of Experienced Entrepreneurs and Investors

Formal Advisory Board of Top Mentors

Significant Product Progress

Significant Number of Leads and Customers

Progress on Team Growth

Investment-Worthy Pitch Deck

Clear & Actionable Next Steps for Growth

Many Graduates are also able to secure funding and significant revenue by the end of the program.

I entered FI with a vague idea. After 3.5 months, I had a concise idea that was validated with potential investors, an incorporated company, a board of advisors, complete product roadmap, go-to-market plan, and a solid pitch deck." - Errette Dunn, Founder & CEO of Rever

FI was a critical factor in Udemy's successful fundraising. I can't say how valuable the team was in providing advice and introductions throughout the process. Without their sage wisdom, Udemy may not have raised any money." - Gagan Biyani, Co-Founder of Udemy & Sprig

What are the Costs?

First, there is a $0 USD Application Fee to cover the costs of administering the Predictive Admissions Assessment, but anyone who attends a Founder Institute event can apply for free.

Second, Founders accepted to the Pittsburgh Winter 2019 program are asked to pay a $999 USD course fee to cover the costs of running the program ($799 USD before 2018-12-16). This Course Fee is fully refundable before the start of the third program session, so that founders can make an informed decision if the Founder Institute is right for them. In addition, if a Founder drops out from the program after the third session, they are invited to put their course fee towards the next semester in their city.

If you're lucky enough to get accepted and graduate from the program, these costs are negligible. In fact, I would go as far as saying that this is the best money you'll ever spend on your business" - Gary Herman, Founder of Story Home

Alumni Performance

The Founder Institute’s scale and number of successful Graduates is truly unprecedented.

Founder Institute Graduates include some of the world's fastest growing companies, having raised over $800M, creating an estimated portfolio value of $20B. In addition, over 35 Founder Institute Graduates have been acquired.

The Founder Institute is the world's premier pre-seed startup accelerator. Since 2009, we have helped over 3,500 companies raise over $800M and build some of the world's fastest growing companies. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 65 countries, the Founder Institute's mission is to “Globalize Silicon Valley” and empower talented and motivated people to build impactful companies that create one million jobs.